We Might Be Dead By Tomorrow
by Mackled Malaclaw
Summary: Immediately Ginny recognised the device that at a first glance looked like a simple standard silver cigarette lighter. The Deluminator. AU after chapter 18 in DH.
1. The Deluminator

**Disclaimer:**

All stories in this archive are based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. Rights to these characters and their images is neither claimed nor implied. It is not endorsed by any of the aforementioned parties.

All recognizable characters, song lyrics, settings, and ideas not associated with the world of Harry Potter remain the property of their respective owners and all original characters, situations, places and ideas are the sole property of their creators. Original content viewed here may not be used without their permission.

This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Chapter 1 **The Deluminator

26 December 1997

Ginny Weasley started from her sleep in her narrow bed at the Burrow. Her breathing was uneven and she could feel small droplets of sweet resting on her brow. She squeezed her eyes shut once more in an attempt to get rid of the unsettling pictures and emotions her mind had conjured up only mere seconds ago. The nightmare had been a particularly nasty one; she had relived a rather dreadful (not to mention painful, due to the frequent use of the Cruciatus Curse at the hands of Amycus Carrow) detention, she as well as Neville and Luna had received for "stirring up the student body".

One glance at her clock that hung above her _Holyhead Harpies _poster confirmed that it was way to early for her to get up during the holidays. She sighed and slowly sat up in her bed, shifting her feet so that that she was sitting up. It was no use now, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep again if she tried, so she got dressed at a slow pace and went to the bathroom.

Ginny could hear the clattering of crockery and cutlery in the kitchen. She briefly wondered who else would be up this early but quickly decided that it was probably her mother, cleaning up the kitchen after the opulent meal of the evening before. Yesterday had been Christmas day and Ginny thought it was fair to say that this Christmas had been the most depressing, gloomy and sombre one she had ever experienced. Including that one during her forth year at Grimmauld Place after her dad had been bitten by that snake; at least most of her family had been in a good mood (a brooding Harry excluded).

At least most of her family had been _there_, she thought darkly.

Percy, that traitor, had probably been too busy licking the floor the death-eating Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse, walked on, while slandering his "blood traitor family".

Charlie had most likely been too busy taming Norberta (Harry had told her the story of the Norwegian Ridgeback, once upon a time during a carefree stroll around the Black Lake, that now seemed to be light years ago…)

Lastly, she was absolutely certain that Bill was shagging Phlegm at their new cottage near the coast.

And Ron, well Ron was who-knows-where doing who-knows-what with Hermione and Harry and who-knows-who-else.

_Harry…_

Even though it was probably quite mean and unfair of her to think, she missed Harry Potter more than all her other brothers combined. They were broken up – they wouldn't be if it were up to her – but that didn't stop her from wishing she were by his side. Oh, how much she missed those few weeks they had spent together towards the end of the last school year. It was hard to believe how quickly their perfect bubble of happiness and insouciance had burst. After Dumbledore's death things had gone awry very, very fast.

Neville had restarted the DA and together with the other members they were doing their best to revolt against Snape and the Carrows, but it wasn't enough. She wanted to help Harry with whatever he was doing and _fight_.

Sadly the only times she saw Harry these days were when she looked at the _Undesirable No. 1_ posters that had been plastered all over Hogwarts and Hogsmead. (Ginny privately thought that he was very much desirable, but that was another matter entirely)

In the end, with the majority of her brothers gone, Christmas had gone over rather gloomy and not even Fred and George's jokes had been able to lighten the mood. There was something particularly foreboding in the atmosphere nowadays and if she had to put a finger on it she would say that it meant one thing: war is coming.

As she made her way down to the kitchen, she decided that she wanted to see her oldest brother today. Bill, next to the twins, had always been her favourite brother and she missed his company dearly. Phlegm would be there too, but as she grudgingly had to admit, _Fleur_ wasn't _that_ bad.

In the kitchen she, indeed, met her mother who instantly made a fuss and busied herself with making breakfast. Ginny, however, wasn't fooled. One glance at her mother's puffy, red eyes confirmed that she had been crying. _Probably over Ron…_

She often wondered what her mother would do if she knew the truth about what was currently going on at Hogwarts. She'd probably throw a hysteric fit, and then envelop her in a bone-crushing hug and sob into her shoulder. Ginny could already her mother's shaky voice in her head _(The Cruciatus Curse, my little girl! Oh Ginny - _). She didn't even want to know what her mum would do if someone told her that she'd tried to steal Godric Gryffindor's sword from Snape's office (_Ginevra Molly Weasley, how could you have been so irresponsibly reckless! I've raised you better than this -_ ).

No, she thought, visiting Bill was a very good idea. She needed to get away for a few hours and Bill had always been able to calm her down.

"Mum?" she broke the awkward silence that had settled between them. "I would like to visit Bill at Shell Cottage today. Is that alright with you?"

Her mother looked up, gave her a genuine smile. "Yes, of course Ginny dear. Oh, what a wonderful idea! Should I send him a message and tell him that you're coming. Or I could come with you, I haven't seen William since –"

"Mum!" Ginny quickly broke her mother's speech off. "I'll be fine by myself. Don't worry, I'm just going to surprise him and Fleur." She smiled reassuringly at her. Her mother always worried too much.

Half an hour later a dressed and sated Ginny Weasley stepped through the fireplace of Shell Cottage. She quickly brushed the grime and soot off her clothing and called out for her brother. She fervently hoped she wasn't interrupting something; they _were_ still newlyweds, after all.

She didn't have to wait long. A few moments later her brother entered the room, an odd expression on his scarred face. She couldn't quite place it but it mirrored confusion, surprise, joy and – panic?

"Ginny?" He asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you were at the Burrow. Look –I – not that I'm not happy to see you, but maybe you should come back at another time." He looked rather uneasy and tried hard not to meet her eye_. What the heck was going on?_

"Er – why?"

"Well, it's simply a bad time to visit us right now, because – er – " he broke off his sentence and started fiddling with the hem of his shirt, still not meeting her eyes.

"Bill, did something happen? Can I help?" she was fairly worried by now.

"No!" He exclaimed, looking nervous, "It's just – "

Bill, however, never was able to finish his sentence, because he was interrupted by a throaty, silvery voice that came from upstairs. "Bill? Is zat your brozer? Ron said 'e wanted to go for a walk. I would 'ave zought 'e would be gone longer zan zis."

Ginny's head snapped up to the ceiling.

_Ron?!_

Had she heard correctly? Was Ron here - was Hermione too - _Harry_? Her heart missed a beat and she felt completely dumbfolded.

She fixed her gaze back on Bill and furrowed her brow.

"Ron? Is he here, is – " she paused when she caught sight of Bill's guilty expression. _What was going on? _Were her brother, Hermione and Harry here? Why wasn't Bill saying something, _anything_?

"Bill," she began slowly, "if Ron, Hermione and Harry are here, you better tell me straight away because I'm going to find out either way." The fact that her brother stood in front of her, unmoving and with a stricken look on his face didn't help to calm her racing thoughts in the slightest. _Was she going to see Harry_? All at once she felt quite fuzzy-headed.

"Bill? Why aren't you answering me? 'as somezing 'appened?" Came Fleur's voice from upstairs, shaking her out of her haze.

"No, love, everything is fine." Bill called back, "Ginny came to visit us – " he trailed off.

"Nom d'un chien! Pauvre Ronald!"

Ginny didn't know nor did she care what Fleur had said, but she knew for certain that it had involved her brother's name once more. She felt her temper flare up as she was starting to lose her patience.

"William Weasley, if you don't tell me what's going on right this second, I swear I'll – " her angry rant was cut off by the sensation of being tugged towards a chair. Bill sat down across from her, the dining table between them.

"Listen Ginny," he said, "you're right, Ron _is_ here –"

A roller coaster of emotions went through Ginny's insides_. They really _were_ here!_ She couldn't believe it; after five long months she was going to see them again.

"- But it's not the way you think. Ron's here alone – "

_Ron was here _alone_?_ Her mind quickly went through all the possibilities this could implicate. _Had they been forced to split up? Had they somehow been separated? Did something go wrong? _Or – she nearly didn't even dare to make this presumption – _was Ron the only one still… alive_?

" – Anyhow, Ron came here alone after he left Harry and Hermione after a row –"

_What?_

"What?" she asked sharply.

"Ginny, listen, while I absolutely do not approve of your brothers' actions - you need to know that he is really ashamed of himself – he's been trying to find a way to get back to them for the last weeks –"

_Weeks?! Ron had been here for _weeks_?_

" – That's why Fleur and I have been backing him up, you know. He's really sorry and regrets leaving them with whatever they were doing - he doesn't say… that's why Fleur and I didn't go over to the Burrow this Christmas – "

But Ginny wasn't listening anymore; she was racing out of the living room towards the guestroom, where she guessed Ron was residing in. She wanted to kill her brother. Well, maybe she didn't want to _kill_ him but she wanted to scream at him and hurt him, make him see reason.

Her anger was clouding her ability to think straight; her blood was boiling. He had _deserted_ Harry, abandoned him on their quest, when all _she_ wanted was to be was with him. _How could he?_

The guestroom was empty apart from a few scattered articles of clothing that looked rather worn and battered. He wasn't here – somewhere deep in her mind she recalled something Fleur had said; _he was taking a walk? _Ron, that bleeding git, had actually the audacity to take a damn _walk_, while Harry and Hermione where wheresoever, probably risking their lives, battling Death Eaters or face-to-face with Voldemort himself. If_ they're still alive_, she wondered frantically.

_No_, she thought, _it would have been big news if Harry Potter were dead_. Surely news like this would be celebrated as the ministries' biggest triumph!

As she slowly sank to her knees, she suddenly caught sight of a reflexion of light in the pocket of – Ron's jeans? She quickly moved towards the garment and noticed a small, silvery, delicate-looking object that had slipped out of the trouser pocket. Carefully, she took it in her hand to get a closer look. Immediately Ginny recognised the device that at a first glance looked like a simple standard silver cigarette lighter.

_The Deluminator. _

Dumbledore had left it to Ron in his will. Her brother had shown it to her and told her that it could be used to extinguish light sources; rumour had it that Dumbledore had even invented it himself.

"Ginny, -" she was startled by her by her brother's voice and abruptly spun around to see Bill standing in the doorway, Fleur, still in her nighdress, directly behind him.

" – If you want you want to see Ron you can wait with us here. Fleur is making breakfast…" her brother finished.

"Er, thanks Bill…Fleur – but I already had breakfast at home," she explained in a distant voice. She still had trouble wrapping her mind around the whole situation. "I think I'm just going to wait outside for him to arrive – if that's alright with you…"

"Oui, of course. But make sure you stay inside ze wards so zat you don't get lost." Fleur cautioned her in a motherly tone. Ginny couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance towards her sister-in-law's way of treating her like she couldn't take care of her self.

"Don't worry, I won't," she said, smiling reassuringly at them.

The rough see breeze was whirling around Ginny's hair, the droplets of spray raised by the wind were tousling up her thick strands of long, red hair. Over the last few minutes Ginny had been squatting on a large rock close to the cottage, overlooking the furious December-sea. She was freezing pretty badly – she was clad only in her woollen jumper and semi-warm coat – but she couldn't bring herself to care.

She had no idea how she was going to face Ron. On the one hand, she had missed her brother dearly over last few months, even if he sometimes was an overprotective git (she still hadn't forgiven him for barging in her room on Harry's birthday). On the other hand she was simply livid. _How dare he walk out on Harry! _She was so angry - she was slightly worried that she could seriously injure her brother once she caught sight of him - but that wouldn't do. _He regrets it, he is ashamed of his actions,_ whispered a voice of reason in her head. _He is trying to find a way back to them…and maybe, maybe you could even come with him! Harry…_

"Ginny…"

Ginny jumped. The voice had been soft, a sigh. But she knew this voice; it was unmistakably Harry, she was sure of it. Ginny was positive that she would be able to identify Harry's voice everywhere.

Promptly she glanced down at her hands where she thought the voice had come from. Her left hand was still clutched tightly around the Deluminator. Feeling curious she thoroughly investigated the object in her palm. It didn't look any different, but still! She hadn't imagined hearing her name, had she? _Maybe I'm going mad, _she thought panicked. Hearing voices sure wasn't a sign of sanity.

Not knowing what else she could do she clicked it.

The lamps, that had been illuminating the cosy little garden surrounding Shell Cottage, went out. However, the lamps were not what drew Ginny's attention.

A ball of light had appeared near she shore, just outside the wards. It was incredibly bright and seemed to be somehow pulsing. If she had to describe it she would compare it to that bluish light around an activated portkey.

Fascinated, she made her way towards the light. It was drawing her nearer, calling out for her. Her legs seemed to be moving by their own accord, trance-like. As she made her way towards the shore and outside the wards the ball of light began to slowly float towards her.

Once it was hovering right in front of her she reached out with her hand to touch it - but the ball had already made its was to her chest. Before she could even comprehend what was happening it went straight through her, right were her heart was. A tingling sensation went through her body and her chest was feeling pleasantly hot.

All at once Ginny knew what she had to do. The heat was trying to guide her towards her heart._ Harry_. She could feel him with every fibre of her being, the warmth was enveloping her, leading her. She knew it would take her where she needed to go.

Even though she had never Apparated before, the heat in her chest was directing her. She closed her eyes and hoped, determined, all rational thought erased from her mind_. I need to be with Harry, bring me to Harry, please, please…_

Blackness engulfed her. Ginny was dimly aware of hearing a loud crack but she was too busy perceiving the unfamiliar sensations that were flooding through her body. She was pressed very hard from all directions; she could not breathe, ropes were tightening around his chest. All in all she thought it was fair to say that it was damn nasty.

As abruptly as it had started, it was over. The first thing she noticed upon opening her streaming eyes was that she was feeling incredibly sick; she felt as though she had just been squeezed into very small box. _I just Apparated! Oh Merlin. _The second thing she noticed was that she was lying flat on her back and was currently staring into the dark sky.

Gulping a lungful of the frosty winter air, she slowly got back on her feet. Tentatively, she looked around, brushing snow of her coat. By the looks of it, she had ended up in a forest, a very deep forest that was. Everything around her was covered in snow and the air was even colder than at Shell Cottage. It was still very dark outside and the fact that she was deep in the woods didn't improve her sight at all. Where in the name of Merlin was she?

After what felt like only a few seconds but was most likely close to a few minutes she decided that she had to do something. She wouldn't be able Apparate back without help anyways.

Suddenly a bright silver light appeared in the distance, moving through the trees. Whatever the source, it was moving soundlessly, without a rustling of shrubbery. The light seemed to simply drift further afar.

Hesitantly, she began following the silver form, always keeping a distance. It could be a trick, a lure, a trap. She was creeping, trying not to make to make too much noise as the snow crunched beneath her feet. At the same time she was making an effort of orienting herself in the darkness, hoping she didn't collide with a tree. Drawing nearer she recognised the silver light.

It was a Patronus.

She couldn't exactly make out what animal it was but her first intuition was that is was some kind of deer. Her breath caught. Was it possible? Could this be Harry's Patronus? The stag?

She approached the creature further, wanting to see whether she had guessed correctly. At last, the Patronus came to a halt. Not yet wanting to be seen by the caster – in case it was not Harry – she stopped walking as well and quickly hid behind an oak. Now that the creature had stopped moving she was able to identify the animal as a beautiful doe. Regardless, Ginny couldn't stop herself from feeling badly disappointed. It wasn't Harry's stag at all…

Then, just as she thought she had heard a rustling coming from behind an oak in close vicinity to her, she caught sight a lone person approaching the clearing were the doe was standing. The doe seemed to be looking straight at the person. But the brightness emitted by the Patronus wasn't enough; she couldn't see who it was. Briefly, she considered using the Deluminator once more to create a light but it would be foolish. What if it was a Death Eater?

As the person – it was a boy - started running towards the doe it suddenly vanished.

Though the darkness had swallowed her entirely, the image of the doe was still imprinted in her mind. All of sudden the forest seemed to be awfully quite. Fear began to coil in her chest. The Patronus' presence had meant safety, now she felt terribly exposed to the darkness. Was she about to be attacked? Who was the boy? Was he still there, ambushing her?

"_Lumos"_

A flash of bright white light illuminated the area around her. For a moment she was blinded by the brightness of it. After her eyes had adjusted to the light she was able to see the boy for the first time. Ginny's heart missed a beat, she gasped.

It was _Harry_.

Her Harry.


	2. The Sword At The Bottom Of The Pool

Disclaimer:

All stories in this archive are based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. Rights to these characters and their images is neither claimed nor implied. It is not endorsed by any of the aforementioned parties.

All recognizable characters, song lyrics, settings, and ideas not associated with the world of Harry Potter remain the property of their respective owners and all original characters, situations, places and ideas are the sole property of their creators. Original content viewed here may not be used without their permission.

This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

* * *

**Chapter 2** The Sword At The Bottom Of The Pool

It was Harry.

Her Harry.

Even though he was standing far from where she was standing behind the tree, she could make out his mop of messy black hair and his signature round-rimmed glasses that reflected the light that shone from the tip of his wand.

At once, before she could study him further, he spun around. Harry slowly moved deeper and deeper into the depths of the forest until she was only able to see the light of his wand, shining through the woods. She could see that he had stopped moving but wondered what he was doing. Had he found something? _Someone?_ How would he react if she suddenly revealed herself?

After a few more moments she was able to hear his voice again - barely audible in the distance.

"_Accio sword"_

Sword? What in the name of Merlin was he doing with a sword? Perhaps it was the sword of Gryffindor? _No it couldn't be_, she reminded herself. Godric Gryffindor's Sword was placed in Snape's office; she had seen it with her own eyes, after all.

Harry mumbled something but it was too quiet for her to hear._ Was he even alone? Was he talking to someone? Hermione?_

An owl hooted somewhere as she waited for something to happen. But what exactly was she waiting for in the first place? What if he suddenly Disapparated, leaving her stuck in the middle of nowhere? Contemplating her options she decided to make her way towards him.

"_Diffindo" _

A crack with the sound like a bullet broke through the silence of the forest. Ginny's heart leapt into her throat. Before she even knew what she was doing she was running towards Harry. The Delumintaor was still in her left hand, her right palm clenched tightly around her wand. What was going on? Was he hurt?

Just as she was about to blow all caution in the wind and call out for Harry, she saw him jump into a hole. _What the -?_

_Splash_

Momentarily Ginny was frozen on the spot as she observed the scene in front of her. A wand, still lit, lay on a gleaming surface that seemed to be ice.

A small frozen pool, its black surface glittering in the light of the wand, was located in the clearing of trees. The surface of the pond was cracked, chunks of dark ice rocking in the ruffled pool. Water was lapping over the edges of it.

Then she saw him. Harry stood, submerged to his shoulders in the frozen pool, his back to her. His torso was bare and he was shaking violently. Ginny could even detect small droplets of icy water on his neck, gleaming in the eerie atmosphere, created by the reflexions of light.

Ginny opened her mouth to call his name or perhaps emit a cry, she did not know. Yet, before she even had the chance to make up her mind, he dived.

Ginny was rooted to the spot. _What was he thinking_? The water was positively icy_. Was he trying to get himself killed? _The most important question, however, was: why he wasn't coming up to the surface again?

Several moments passed as Ginny waited for him to emerge. But he never did.

Without even thinking about it, without wasting a second thought that it was probably an incredibly reckless thing to do, she dropped her wand and the Deluminator to the ground and plunged into the water.

She doused, head first and fully dressed into the ice-cold water. Every pore of her body screamed in protest against the freezing cold. Her brain was frozen, her lungs felt as though they might explode. It was agony.

The water wasn't too deep, her fingers reaching the ground just after a mere second. She tried to orient herself in the dark water, but she could hardly see. Her eyes were on fire, struggling against the icy water.

Dimly, Ginny could make out the vague form of a person, trashing and kicking out at the other side of the pool. She quickly swam towards him, as fast as her frozen limbs allowed her to. One of Harry's hands was closed around a large-sized silver sword. With his other hand he was frantically trying to free his neck from some kind of chain. It was _choking_ him. _He is suffocating_, Ginny realised in horror.

Ginny let out a desperate cry that was drowned in the surrounding water. She closed her frozen fingers around the chain to rip it off, but it didn't budge.

A locked was wrapped tightly around his throat. It seemed to radiate an aura of pure horror. It was evil and vile; she could feel its energy with every fibre of her being.

Panic-stricken, Ginny yanked the sword out of Harry's grasp and used the sharp blade to cut him free of the locket. Afterwards she hectically pulled the broken chain off his neck.

She was running out of air now. Her lungs were empty, on fire. With the last ounce of her strength she closed her arms around his chest from behind. The sword and locket still secured in her hands she tried to drag Harry towards the edge of the pond. But she was too small – her head didn't even reach the surface of the water.

She was drowning, they both were. She was going to die and the hadn't even been able to save Harry…

_No!_ She was not going to give up. She was going to fight. That was who she was: a fighter.

As by a miracle the water suddenly seemed to be less deep. Her head broke through the surface. With might and main she waded out of the pool, dragging an unconscious Harry with her.

Gulping deep lungfuls of cold air that felt like heaven in her empty lungs, she flopped down Harry and lay down right beside him, coughing and breathing heavily. Beside her, Harry was choking and retching.

A small part of her brain noticed that they were making quite an odd picture for spectators: A drenched, shaking boy (only in his boxer shorts) next to a (from top to bottom soaked) girl, lying side-by-side in the snow, both utterly drained.

Using the sword in her hand as an aid to get to her feet, she got up. Her clothes were dripping, melting the snow at her feet. She was colder than she had ever been in her life; her hair was plastered to her face. Harry's eyes were still closed but he was _alive_.

Taking a closer look at the sword in her hand she noticed that it was, indeed, the sword of Gryffindor. _That's impossible._ She had seen it in Snape's office only a few weeks prior. How had it ended up on the bottom of a frozen pool in the middle of a forest?

"Harry," she panted, "What - were - you - _thinking_?"

Harry's eyes snapped open. Pure shock and confusion were apparent in his expression as he fixed his gaze on her. Still shivering, he staggered to his feet, staring at her as though he had never seen her before. His eyes were wide, unbelieving. Who could blame him? He hadn't seen her in months and now she was suddenly saving him from drowning. It did seem slightly unlikely, even to her.

Ginny still marvelled at the fact that the boy, standing in front of her was _Harry_. After five long months she was finally seeing him again. He did not look good: Besides the obvious signs of having just escaped suffocation in an icy pool, he was also much too thin, skinnier than usual, and right over his heart there was a scarlet oval, the exact shape of the locket. What else had that thing done to him?

She gazed down at the locket in her other hand. Now, outside the water, she was able to make it out in detail. It was made of heavy gold, from the looks of it, and a serpentine _S_ in glittering emeralds was embedded in the front. _Like a snake_, she thought. It was twitching slightly.

Ginny felt a surge of hate towards the piece of jewellery. _It tried to suffocate Harry! _But there was something else to it, something she couldn't quite put a finger on yet. The aura emitted by the locket was undoubtedly evil, but it was also strangely familiar.

"What – is – this?" she asked, still breathing heavily.

"I – Ginny?" he panted with an incredulous expression, his mouth hanging open. His voice was also weaker than usual. _No surprise,_ she thought, _he had nearly been strangled, after all._

"Yeah," she didn't know what to say, what to think. Her ability to frame a coherent sentence seemed to have drowned in the pond.

He didn't believe her at all so much was obvious. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion, estimating.

"Well, _Ginny,_"he spat her name in a tone she didn't like at all, "if it really is you than you can surely tell me what I have tattooed on my chest?"

_He thinks I'm an imposer! Unbelievable! That git nearly drowned and now he wants to play a game of questions and answers._

He was eyeing the wand now; it was still lying on the ground. Ginny was fairly sure that it belonged to Hermione. What had happened to his own wand anyway?

Ginny smiled. It was a trick question! Her gaze dropped to his bare, tattoo-less but wounded, chest.

"Nothing, obviously," she stated, gesturing towards his torso, "However, if you were to ask Romilda Vane the same question, she would tell you that it is a Hungarian Horntail. Very macho, don't you agree?" Ginny almost grinned.

She had convinced him know, she could tell.

"Ginny – but - _how_? Harry stammered, shaking his head, perplexed.

"It's really me, but can we talk about this later? Right now I'm really cold and a bet you are as well, so – " Ginny said, wringing out her drenched sleeve to prove her point.

She felt as though her wet hair would freeze to icicles in the gelidly air if she didn't use a drying charm soon. She bent down to pick up her wand, which she had dropped earlier. She already had the Hot-Air Charm on her lips when Harry suddenly whipped the wand out of her hand.

"No!" he exclaimed, looking suddenly panicked, "you can't use magic Ginny, you're still underage, remember? The trace! If you or I or anyone else performs magic around you the ministry has us cornered!"

The _trace_.

Bloody hell, how could she have completely forgotten about the bloody trace?

"Bugger," she whispered, staring at Harry with wide eyes.

"Yeah – well, we could just share that," he said in an equally quiet voice, gesturing towards a pile of clothes, lying at the water's edge that she hadn't noticed before.

Ginny nodded her approval, still a bit shaken. She had nearly handed them over…

Harry quickly fetched the garments and thrust two sweaters and a pair of sweatpants – had he worn them underneath his trousers? - in her hands. Harry himself remained with a single sweater and a pair of jeans. _Always the gentleman, giving her one sweater more than himself._

All at once, despite the cold, colour returned to Harry's cheeks. He gave her a shy, crooked smile. _He's so adorable!_

"Er - maybe we should turn around to…you know, change."

"_Oh…_yeah," she nodded. To her horror she could feel a blush creeping up her neck as well. Harry always managed to reduce her to the lovesick first-year she had once been. But the stinging cold of her soaked clothes quickly overshadowed her embarrassment. Carefully, she deposited the sword and the locket. She would ask him about them later. For now her main concern was to regain _warmth_.

Standing back to back to Harry, she swiftly rid herself of her wet clothes until she was completely naked, shivering and trembling (she couldn't very well walk around with her cold, drenched underwear, could she?).

Despite the fact that she was feeling quite foolish, standing around starkers in the woods (in December!), she couldn't stop her brain from forming inappropriate thoughts. _He's standing right behind me, naked!_ Could she risk it to sneak a peak? _No, Ginny, don't go there, _she told herself,_ he is your _ex_-boyfriend, remember?_

Pulling the second sweater over her head, she turned to face him again, feeling much better than before. Her hair was still wet, but at least her clothes were dry, not to mention surprisingly well smelling. Strangely the scent reminded her of _Amortentia_, a potion Professor Slughorn had shown them in their first lesson of the last term…

"It was y – you?" Harry asked after a moment, his teeth clattering.

"Well, yeah," she answered, slightly confused now. Of course it had been her who had pulled him out of the pond.

"Y – you cast that doe? It was you? Ginny?"

"What? No, I didn't. I don't know who did, though."

"You didn't see anyone else?"

"No," she started to answer "I,"

But then she hesitated. There _had_ been something. She clearly remembered hearing a rustling coming from behind a pair of oak trees right before she had seen Harry. She had been distracted than and quickly forgot about it.

"I think I might have heard something over there," she said, pointing towards the oaks. "It kind of slipped my mind after – Harry?"

Harry was already hurrying to the place she had shown him. There was a gap between two oaks that grew close together, an ideal place to oversee something but remain hidden at once.

"Is someone there?" she asked, picking up the sword and locket once more as Harry made his way back.

"No," he answered, shaking his head.

"So…how come this - " she lifted up the sword of Gryffindor, " - is on the bottom of a pool, when I clearly remember trying to steal it from Snape's office only a few weeks ago?"

"No idea," he said slowly, "whoever cast the doe must have put it there."

Ginny noticed that he was still eying her strangely, as though he didn't quite believe that she was really here, and undecided how he should feel about it.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, looking squarely into her eyes.

"Yes?"

"Thank you. For saving me," he whispered sincerely, "I would have died in there if you hadn't come."

"That's not – I mean - no problem," she said, smiling at him.

He hesitantly smiled back. _I love his smile! It's so contagious!_

She knew that they couldn't keep beating around the bush for much longer. For the last few minutes they had deliberately avoided the topic of both the sword and the locket. She fumbled with the hem of her oversized sweater.

"Erm – if you don't know were the sword came from, maybe you can tell me what _this_ is," she lifted up the locket, which was dangling from its broken chain, "you were wearing it around your neck, after all."

Harry sighed, running his hands through his damp raven hair, mussing it up even more than usual.

"I suppose I can't just not tell you and somehow get you home, can I?"

"Absolutely not, Potter," she shot back, waving the sword in his direction in a mock-threat.

Harry raised his hands in defiance but she could see that he was biting back a grin.

"Don't you have a camp or something? Its rather frosty outside, just in case you haven't noticed," Ginny suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"We do have a tent, but Hermione is there at the moment and I'd rather not yet have to explain where you came from, if I don't know myself yet…"

_Ooh, he wants to have me all to himself!_ Merlin, she sounded sappy, even in her own head.

They sat down under a tree with a broad trunk, that wasn't snowed under, their shoulders touching. He gingerly took the locket out of her hand, studying it. Immediately she felt relief washing through her. Even though it wasn't strangling Harry anymore, there still was something vicious and evil about it.

A cold shiver ran down her spine. She _knew_ this presence…

"I – I hate it!" she exclaimed suddenly, surprising herself with her outburst.

"Me too," Harry mumbled, looking her in the eyes, "it's a horcrux."

She stared at him blankly; he could just as well have told her that it was a Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

"It's got a piece of Vol – "

"NO!" Ginny yelled, staring at him in horror. Acting hastily, she quickly covered his mouth with her free hand.

"You can't say his name!" she exclaimed, her heart thumping like mad. She quickly withdrew her hand. Harry just looked at her with a bewildered expression. _He must think I'm a nutter!_

"There's a taboo on his name," she quickly explained, "it's jinxed. That's how they are tracking people. Those who dare to speak his name, not You-Know-Who, are the biggest threats to them. You know like Dumbledore…or _you_!"

Harry's facial expression quickly changed from confusion to dawning understanding.

"That's how they found us in Tottenham Court Road," he whispered, "because we said his _name_?"

Despite the fact that she had no idea were Tottenham Court Road was, she nodded. "Exactly. So… what about this locket?"

"Right," Harry said, taking a deep breath, "a Horcrux is really Dark Magic. _You-Know-Who_ put a piece of his soul inside of it.

"Sorry?" she was sure she had misunderstood him.

"I know, it's hard to believe, but he did. He split his soul into pieces, seven if Dumbledore is right, and hid the fragments in different objects. Horcruxes." Harry finished.

Ginny gaped at him. "H – he split his soul?"

The idea was making her insides churn, she felt nauseous. No wonder the locked felt so evil: it was a piece of _his_ soul!

"So that's what you three – I mean two – " Ginny caught sight of a flicker of pain in Harry's eyes. _Ron had left_. "- have been doing the entire time? You've been looking for those - Horcruxes?"

"Exactly."

"But – that's crazy! They could be anywhere –"

"You're telling me!" Harry interjected but she carried on, unperturbed.

"There are seven, you say, that still leaves six others if the locket is the only one you got. And why were you wearing it around your neck anyway? Do you have a death wish? You can't just walk around with a piece of his soul dangling off your throat!" Ginny was sputtering in her excitement to be able to discuss "classified" information with Harry. "And besides just because you found one doesn't mean the soul fragment is gone, does it? How do you – "

"Ginny," Harry interrupted her, "slow down. Yes the locket is the first one we found and you're right, we haven't been able to destroy it. That's why we've been taking turns in wearing it; it's safer that way. But there are two others who have already been destroyed…" Harry trailed off, looking uncomfortable under her steady gaze, not meeting her eyes.

Suddenly everything added up. How the locket somehow seemed oddly familiar, how she was so repulsed by it…

"The diary," she breathed.

Shock and horror washed through her body in tidal waves. The diary had been a horcrux. She had been possessed by an actual bit of his, Tom's _soul_?

"Yeah," Harry answered her, although it wasn't necessary. The second she had spoken the words she had known they were true.

Suddenly the stringing cold, just now completely forgotten, returned to her awareness. She started shivering; the memory of her possession was still so recent.

Sensing her consternation, Harry wrapped her in his arms, stroking her wet hair. She buried her face in his chest but didn't cry. They sat like this for a few moments, neither of them breaking the silence. _She was over it_, she told herself. She took a deep breath.

"I'm okay," she said, whether it was to herself or you to Harry she did not know.

They were still sitting in an awkward hug, but neither of them made any move to change their position. Harry gently kissed her forehead and she melted, warmth returning to her heart. There was no place in heaven she would be rather than right there, wrapped securely in Harry's arms.

"The diary – you destroyed it with a Basilisk fang, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Are there any other ways to do it? Because we definitely don't have one of those, do we?"

"No we don't," Harry agreed, "but now, we have this." He pointed at the sword of Gryffindor. It was beautiful, made from pure silver, inset with rubies.

"It was impregnated with Basilisk venom in the Chamber," he said, a triumphant glint in his eyes.

Ginny finally got her head around all of it. To be fair, it had been a lot of information to take in. "So…we can destroy the locket with the sword? Do you think -will it work?"

"One way to find out, isn't there?"


	3. The Locket

**Disclaimer:**

All stories in this archive are based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. Rights to these characters and their images is neither claimed nor implied. It is not endorsed by any of the aforementioned parties.

All recognizable characters, song lyrics, settings, and ideas not associated with the world of Harry Potter remain the property of their respective owners and all original characters, situations, places and ideas are the sole property of their creators. Original content viewed here may not be used without their permission.

This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

_A/N: There is a rather mature scene approximately in the middle of the chapter. I'm going to indicate it like..._

* * *

_...This_

* * *

**Chapter 3** The Locket

Harry Potter was caught up in turmoil. He wasn't sure what to think or even to feel for the matter. Ginny Weasley, his ex-girlfriend (who he was still in love with) had just rescued him from being suffocated by the Horcrux and hence drowning.

And it wasn't only that. He still had no clue how she had been able to track him down, early in the morning after Christmas, in the middle of the Forest of Dean. If she could, who else could?

He still wasn't sure how he should feel about her appearance. He had missed her, badly even – he had been watching her dot on the Marauder's map too many times to count – and he was very glad that she had saved his life, but he had also broken up with her in order to protect her, to keep her safe. But that was all for nothing now, he had just told her about the Horcruxes, after all.

Perhaps it would have been the wiser and safer choice for her to somehow get her home and not tell her a thing about their mission. To keep her from everything that could mean any harm. But he wouldn't have been able to do it. It was as simple as that. She was _Ginny_, his strong and feisty Ginny, who hated nothing more than to be babied and left out.

_And,_ whispered an annoyingly complacent voice in his head, _she hadn't been safe at Hogwarts at all. You heard about the sword, and with Snape as headmaster, who knows what else happened to her. _He shuddered at the thought. The very idea of a heavily injured Ginny Weasley was making him ill. He had wanted to _protect_ her.

Harry was ashamed to admit it but he even felt a great sense of relief, now that Ginny knew about their quest. The weight that had been placed on his shoulders felt lighter somehow, less condemning, now that he had shared his knowledge with Ginny.

Of course he had shared all that with Ron and Hermione as well, but Ginny was different somehow. Ron and Hermione were his best friends, and Ginny was, well _Ginny_. She was a category on her own. Harry thought that it was fair to say that he was truly and utterly besotted by his beautiful witch.

The time he had spent with Ginny in spring had been the happiest in his life. She was fire and strength, she was _life_, Ginny was. Moreover she was also a _very_ powerful witch. He pitied everyone who ever crossed her - her Bat-Bogey-Hex was legendary, after all. Ginny was capable and independent and had faced evil way too young. They both knew the devil that was Voldemort in an entirely different way than anybody else. His diary had possessed Ginny and he, himself was connected to him through his scar.

Perhaps it was fate, that Ginny whose childhood had been taken by a Horcrux should _destroy_ another. Dumbledore had at least taught Harry something about the incalculable power of certain acts. It was a particular kind of magic and Harry was sure that Ginny had to be the one to wield the sword and destroy the locket. It was symbolic somehow and oddly poetic.

Harry was jolted out of his musings by Ginny, who had freed herself out of his embrace, got up and was now offering him the sword. She raised her eyebrows at him as if to say '_are you going to do it or what_?'

Harry, however, shook his head. He also stood up but opposed to accepting the sword he handed her the locket instead.

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise. "Y – you want _me_ to do it, destroy it?" she asked, astonished.

"Yes … I think it's supposed to be you, you got the sword out of the pool." There was an indisputable amount of trust and confidence in his voice. Harry was elated to see Ginny's eyes light up. It affected her deeply that he had complete trust in her.

Ginny gave him a proud smile, her eyes gleaming, and withdrew the sword. She had never looked more beautiful to him, clad in his clothes, her glorious hair damp and ruffled and a downright determined look on her face. Why had he excluded her in the first place?

Harry held up the locket. "The second I open it, you stab it. You know how the bit of Riddle was that came out of the diary. It tried to kill you, me and the muggleborns at Hogwarts. Whatever's in there will put up a fight."

"How are you going to open it in the first place?" As she squinted at the locket and seemed to suddenly recall something. "Because I remember this locket from Grimmauld Place. When we were cleaning up the house no one could open it. Was it still there?"

Harry ignored her last question. They would talk about this later. Now, however, they - no _she -_ would destroy a Horcrux.

"I'm going to use Parseltongue," said Harry. He hadn't even known the answer before he said it. It was as though, deep down, he had always known it. It seemed logical, somehow.

He brushed snow off a flattish rock lying in the shadow of a sycamore tree, and deposited the locket on it.

"Ready?" he asked her.

"Yes," she whispered. She was eying the Horcrux, her brow furrowed. She swallowed, then, taking a deep breath, moved towards the rock.

"On three," said Harry, looking back down at the locket. He concentrated on the serpentine 'S', inlaid with glittering green stones, visualising a snake, curled upon the cold rock. He briefly panicked, wondering whether speaking Parseltongue would alert the ministry to Ginny's location, but decided that it wasn't really _magic_ but rather a magical ability. The locket twitched and rattled. _It's afraid_, Harry realized. Just as in the pond, the locket recognized the sword as threat.

"One … two … three … _open_."

Like a shot, she golden doors of the locket swung open with an audible click. Within were two glass windows, each revealing a living eye. Eyes as dark as Tom Riddle's had once been before they turned to scarlet slits.

"Stab it," he told Ginny, steadying the locket.

But just as Ginny raised the sword with shaking hands, a sudden voice hissed out from the Horcrux.

"_I have seen both your heart and your soul, Ginevra Weasley, an they are mine."_

"Ginny! Don't listen to it!" Harry said sharply. "Stab it!"

"_I have seen your dreams, Ginevra, and I have seen your fears. The seventh of seven children … an accident … never wanted … too poor. Always ignored by your brothers … by the boy who doesn't love you back … always left behind … underestimated …"_

"Ginny!" Harry called out, "stab it now!" He could feel the locket shaking and trembling in his grip. He dreaded to think what was coming. Just as Ginny raised the sword higher, ready to strike, Riddle's eyes gleamed scarlet.

Ginny gasped in shock and backed away as suddenly a figure blossomed out of the locket's windows. First the head, then the chest, legs, until it stood in the locket. It was a strangely distorted image of Harry himself_:_ eyes red, swaying over Ginny and himself.

He quickly snatched away his fingers as the locket suddenly burned white-hot.

"Ginny!" he shouted once more, but his voice didn't reach her ears because the Riddle-Harry was now speaking with Voldemort's voice and Ginny's eyes were fixed on his face.

"_Why are you here? I was better off without you, happier with out you … glad to be rid of you. I pitied you, Ginny, that's why I even bothered with you. I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One and who are you?"_

The Riddle-Harry, who was more handsome and yet more frightening than his real self, gave a cold laugh.

"_You are nothing but little Ginny Weasley. You're a baby! What have you ever done that would be worthy of my attention? Who are you … compared to _me_?"_

He swayed, sneering, before Ginny, who was staring at him, wide-eyed, looking horrified.

"_Did you really think that I was in love with you? That you could ever be enough for me? I could have any witch I wanted … that's why I broke up with you … you are nothing … nothing … no one … "_

Suddenly the image of a curvaceous, naked, woman that Harry had never seen before appeared next to Riddle-Harry. She was hauntingly beautiful, even more so than a veela, her hair swirling like flames, her eyes shining red. Cackling, she stretched like a snake and entwined her body around Riddle-Harry, running her hand over his chest, digging her long nails into his skin. Riddle-Harry groaned, as the woman slowly began to move her hands downwards…

On the ground in front of them, Ginny's face filled with revulsion and loathing. Harry was fairly sure that his own facial expression mirrored hers.

She raised the sword higher.

"Do it, Ginny!" Harry yelled.

Ginny's eyes met his and Harry thought he saw a flicker of scarlet vanish in her brown eyes. She gave him her hard, blazing look and Harry knew, with unswerving certainty, that this was the moment.

Ginny plunged into the glass of the locket, the sword clutched perpendicular in both hands.

There was a clang of metal and a piercing, bloodcurdling scream, as the monstrous figures came to nothing.

Ginny stood, face-to-face with him, staring at him wide-eyed. The shattered remains of the locket lay on the flat rock in front of them. Harry was certain that he hadn't seen Ginny Weasley look so _vulnerable_ in a very long time. Her eyes were moist with unshed tears.

There was a long moment when they both simply stared at one another.

Harry didn't know what made him do it; perhaps it was the fact that she had just destroyed a Horcrux, or the fact that he hadn't seen her in five long months. But suddenly it seemed to be the most natural thing in the world to lean forward and kiss her firmly on the lips.

* * *

Her lips were as cold as the water in the pool had been but so were his, he hardly noticed. Ginny gave a surprised gasp against him, but after a moment's hesitation returned his kiss. Harry closed his eyes as she wound her arms around his neck, pulling him close. In return he ran his fingers through her moist hair. Dimly, he registered a muffled thud; Ginny must have dropped the sword to the ground.

All thoughts flew from Harry's mind when Ginny, parted her lips, moving them against his. Her hot breath tingled against his cold lips, intoxicating him. Her lips were firm and desperate, sliding against his.

They were getting more heated now as her tongue swept into his mouth, caressing his. Ginny sighed against his mouth, fogging his mind with desire. Had he ever felt cold? He needed to feel her body pressed against his. Harry dropped his hands to her narrow waist, pulling her flush against him. _Closer_. He didn't even have time to feel embarrassed that Ginny could surely feel exactly how aroused he was.

"Harry," Ginny moaned, her voice husky, as she ground her hips into his erection. Upon hearing the sound escape her lips, Harry lost all control. Groaning, he slid one of his hands up her body, cupping one of her breasts through the layer of sweaters. _No bra! _He involuntary rocked his hips against hers.

"Is this okay?" he asked her, panting. Harry was surprised that his own voice sounded raspier than usual. He could hardly form a coherent thought; he only knew that his body was pressed against Ginny's and how brilliant it felt...

"Yeah," she breathed, looking at him. Her eyes were hooded and dark with desire. Feeling emboldened, he gingerly squeezed her breast. It wasn't overly large, but he couldn't have cared less. She was perfect. He switched breasts and slid his other hand down to gently cup her bum. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing but judging from the breathy little sounds Ginny made, he was sure that he was doing something right.

Ginny, meanwhile, was trailing sloppy, open-mouthed kisses along his jar. Goosebumps erupted on his skin when her hands had made their way under his sweater, roaming over his back and shoulders. She rolled her hips into his.

A groan escaped Harry's lips; if she kept doing this any longer he was going to-

* * *

"Ginny!" Harry drew back abruptly.

"What?" She looked up, confused.

"W – we can't do this here. We need to talk about things first, and –" Harry stammered.

Ginny groaned and buried her head against his neck. She obviously was as frustrated as he was. Why did he stop her again? _Stupid, just stupid._ But he knew that now was not the time and especially not the place, and they had to talk about a lot of things first. Why was she here? How had she found him? What about her parents? what about Ron? Was she going to stay?

"About the locket … " he said, still trying to catch his breath. "That was all Riddle. I would never think or do this stuff. And I also want you to know that – erm - you're the only one for me because – " he swallowed, " – because I'm in love with you."

What had possessed him to say that? It was true - he couldn't deny that he was completely and utterly in love with her – but they had never actually told each other that. Hell, he had even broken up with her and now he was professing his undying love for her. Surely that was not what Ron had had in mind when he told him not to mess her around. Not that _Ron_ was here of course…

Ginny jerked her head up and stared at him, wide-eyed. "Y – you are?" Her cheeks were still flushed with arousal and her lips were red and swollen from his kisses.

"Well yeah – I am …"

"I'm in love with you too!" Ginny exclaimed before he could say anything more. "Very much so … " she added in a whisper.

Harry was surprised to see moisture in Ginny's eyes. _She loves me too_, Harry thought dazedly. He could feel his heart swell and silly grin was forming on his face. His cheeks flushed to match hers as he met her intense gaze.

They were grinning like idiots at each other and Harry felt as though his spirits had suddenly been lifted tenfold. _Ginny_ had just destroyed a _Horcrux_. One more down (not that he knew were another one was, but still! ). It was downright unbelievable that just one or two hours ago he had sat in the tent, thinking about Ginny and how her dot wouldn't appear on the Marauder's Map because it was Christmas holidays.

"I guess we should find that tent you mentioned." Ginny suggested, shaking him out of his thoughts. "It's probably a lot warmer inside …"

"All we have to do is find it." Harry quipped.

Harry quickly stuffed the locket in his pocket and Ginny picked up the sword from where she had dropped it. She tugged a strand of her – due to the water a darker shade of red than usual – hair behind her ear and shyly reached out her free hand to grip his. Harry smiled reassuringly at her and gave her hand a small squeeze.

Hand in hand they made their way through the dark forest, Harry guiding Ginny. While the walk towards the pool with the doe had seemed rather long, with Ginny by his side the journey back seemed to be astonishingly short. Or perhaps it was just Ginny's presence that gave him this impression.

As they entered the tent, witch was pleasantly warm – Ginny was glancing around with interest – he all at once remembered about Hermione. What would she think about Ginny's sudden appearance? Would she be angry that he had told her about their task, while Dumbledore had only given him permission to tell her and Ron? Did Ginny perhaps know were Ron was? Harry wasn't exactly sure what to say to Ginny yet. He assumed that his brain still hadn't fully processed the last hour.

Absentmindedly, Harry watched Ginny examine the bluebell flames still shimmering in a bowl on the floor, when he was suddenly startled by a screech.

"HARRY POTTER!"

Harry whirled around, nearly losing his balance, and found himself face to face with the tear-streaked face of Hermione. She looked positively _livid._

"Just - _were_ - have – you - been? I wake up and you are _gone_! I thought that they had caught you. What the hell were you thinking, disappearing like that? First Ron _gone_ than you _gone_ as well! I've been looking _everywere! _I –"

She was sobbing by now and unceremoniously launched herself at Harry, still crying.

"Er … Hermione, there is something-"

It was admittedly hard to speak while Hermione Granger was squeezing the air out of his lungs. She abruptly withdrew and examined him from top to bottom, her expression growing more confused with every passing moment.

"Harry? _Why_ is your hair wet? _Where_ in the name of Merlin have you been –"

She stopped, her gaze now finally landing on the petite form of Ginny, alongside of Harry.

"Ginny?" Hermione's tone was unbelieving and slightly shrill. "Ginny Weasley?" She was gaping at her, wide-eyed, completely baffled.

Ginny gave her a weak smile. "Hi"


	4. Confrontations Instead Of Explanations

**Disclaimer:**

All stories in this archive are based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. Rights to these characters and their images is neither claimed nor implied. It is not endorsed by any of the aforementioned parties.

All recognizable characters, song lyrics, settings, and ideas not associated with the world of Harry Potter remain the property of their respective owners and all original characters, situations, places and ideas are the sole property of their creators. Original content viewed here may not be used without their permission.

This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

* * *

**Chapter 4** – Confrontations instead of Explanations

"_Ginny?" Hermione's tone was unbelieving and slightly shrill. "Ginny Weasley?" She was now gaping at her, completely baffled._

_Ginny gave her a weak smile. "Hi"_

"Is that … the Sword of Gryffindor?" The pitch of her voice gradually became higher and higher towards the end of the sentence.

Hermione was shaking her head, her eyes darting from Ginny to him and back again. Never in his life had he seen Hermione Granger look so _frenzied._ Red blotches appeared on her neck. It seemed as though a million of questions were rushing through her mind and she wasn't quite able to decide which one she should ask fist.

"H - how did you find us? I placed all sorts of charms and protective enchantments to make us unplottable. It's simply impossible to find us!"

Harry turned his head towards Ginny. Hermione's question was definitely appropriate. How_ had_ Ginny found him? Between the shock about her appearance, destroying the Horcrux and its '_aftermath'_, he had never actually asked her. It was important though - what if somebody else found them; a Death Eater or simply a Ministry official? They couldn't afford to be discovered.

Instead of answering, Ginny pulled a small silver object from the pocket of his sweatpants.

"This," she stated simply.

"The Deluminator?" Hermione asked, blankly. "Where – what – Ron! How?"

Harry had to admit that Hermione's sputtering was mimicking his own thoughts quite accurately. How in the name of Merlin had Ginny obtained the _Deluminator_ that had previously been in the possession of Ron who in turn had had walked out on them a few weeks prior.

Furthermore the Deluminator did not explain how Ginny had found him at all. For all he knew it was simply a device that was able to turn off the lights.

Harry, feeling as though he'd taken an excessive amount of the Befuddlement Drought and Confusion Concoction at once, was about to question Ginny about all of this, when he noticed that Hermione's brow was furrowed in suspicion. Her nostrils were flaring and she seemed to be quite angry.

"Harry," said Hermione, slowly, her voice dangerously low. "Harry, give me back my wand."

Under normal circumstances he would have complied with her demand instantly but he had a pretty good idea about what Hermione was thinking. He hadn't believed Ginny straightaway either, after all.

„No," he said. "Look Hermione - this really is Ginny—"

"Harry!" Hermione hissed. "You can't honestly say that you believe this … this … _imposer_!"

"Hermione," Ginny joint in the conversation. Drawing Hermione's attention back to her. "It's really me. I—"

"No you're not! Ginny Weasley is at the Burrow. She is sixteen years old and hasn't even learnt how to Apparate!"

Hermione ripped the Deluminator out of Ginny's hands. "Where did you get this? What have you done to Ron? Where is he? Who are—"

"Hermione! It's Ginny. I know it's a shock, but it's her," said Harry "Calm—"

"I will not calm down!" she screamed. "Don't you see? This _person _even has the sword! Only a Death Eater could -it's fake! -at Gringotts!"

She took a deep breath and continued, "I know you miss her but you can't possibly believe – it's a trap!"

"Hermione—"

This - is - not - GINNY_! Where's my wand?"_

Hermione looked ready to wrestle her wand out of his hand. Harry acted instinctively and held it up, keeping it out of her reach. They couldn't risk performing magic around Ginny. Somehow he had to convince Hermione that Ginny was actually Ginny and not a Death Eater.

Hermione let out a frustrated cry and launched herself towards Ginny. She looked quite demented. Harry realized in horror that Hermione was about to _attack _Ginny.

"_Stupefy"_

"_Petrificus Totalus"_

Hermione, hit with the force of both a Stunner and a Full Body-Binding Curse, collapsed to the floor, motionless.

He had only cast the Body Freezing Spell, which, of course, was bad enough. But where had the Stunner come from?

Harry lifted his gaze and stared at Ginny in shock. She was gaping at Hermione's body in shock, her lips slightly parted. She was grasping her own wand limply with her hand, the sword with the other.

Ginny had _petrified_ Hermione. He had _stunned_ Hermione … in close proximity to Ginny.

The trace.

Shaking himself out of his daze he sprung into action. The Ministry officials – most likely Death Eaters - would be there in no time. He highly doubted that they were still sending letters nowadays.

"We … we need to go. Now," he told Ginny in a deathly whisper.

Ginny's eyes snapped and focused on his. She stared at him, wide-eyed, but nodded jerkily.

"_Accio beaded bag"_

He caught Hermione's small bag in his hand. The damage was already done. They could very well use magic now to pack up the things. His mind was working very fast.

Hastily he began summoning things and stuffed them into Hermione's bag, not caring that everything was jumbled.

Ginny, after a moment of confusion about the holding capacity of the small bag, quickly caught on. After shoving the sword into the bag she, too, began packing up everything in sight.

"It's taking to long!" Ginny exclaimed after a few moments of this, her expression desperate.

Panic began to rise up in his stomach. What if they were caught? Hermione was unconscious for Merlin's sake! It brought the sweat to his brow. They needed the tent and everything inside but they had to be _faster._

"We … we could shrink everything," he suggested promptly.

"Is that … _possible_?" Ginny asked incredulously, turning to look at him. Her face was bright red in excitement, her red tresses tousled.

"No idea," he answered her.

Wordlessly, he levitated Hermione's limp body through the entrance of the tent. Ginny was on his heels, clutching the beaded bag in her hand.

Once they were outside, having put Hermione down, he quickly pointed his wand at the tent. Never before had he tried to shrink something that big but it had to be possible. It _had_ to.

Beside him Ginny had - like him - aimed her wand at the tent.

"We should try it together ... at the same time," she suggested, breathing heavily.

Harry noticed that her voice trembling a little. He couldn't blame her, though; they _were _running out of time. Neither of them knew how long it would take the Ministry to locate them but it couldn't be that long. The letters he had gotten for 'Improper Use of Magic' had arrived almost instantly.

Harry took a deep breath, trying to concentrate. Hermione's wand never worked as well as his own Holly wand had, but he had to try.

He looked at Ginny who nodded in return.

"_Reducio"_

To Harry's immense relieve the size of the tent started to decrease rapidly, ending up the approximately as small as a bird-house.

As Ginny hastily stuffed the miniature tent into the bag, Harry quickly removed the enchantments Hermione had placed around them. They couldn't afford to leave marks.

Harry turned to look at the stunned and petrified Hermione on the ground in front of him. The Deluminator was still clutched in one of her hands. Admittedly he had no idea how he was going to Apparate both Ginny and an unconscious Hermione. He had managed to Apparate Dumbledore to Hogsmead last year, yes, but this seemed to be much more difficult.

He was panicky pondering how to proceed – and proceed fast – he grabbed a tight hold of Ginny's hand. Ginny returned his gaze and held on to his hand so firm that it almost hurt.

Three loud cracks sounded in the distance.

_No!_

Clutching Ginny to his side, he seized Hermione's hand, dragging her up and spun on the spot to Dissaparate, concentrating on the only place he could think of. Hermione had always come up with outlaying places to Apparate to, but he knew none.

As he turned into the darkness, he caught one last view of the clearing: of three figures, clad in dark Ministry ropes, rushing towards them. The man closest to them – he was certain that it was a Death Eater, Travers – whipping out his wand. A red spell, soaring though the air at the place where they were vanishing.

All he could do was tighten his grip on Ginny and Hermione's hands and repeat the name of the destination over and over and hope that it was suffice to take them there.

_Privet Drive … Privet Drive … Privet Drive_

And then he hit the solid ground and smelled the dusty air of his aunt and uncle's living room. Feeling utterly drained he coughed a few times and sat up. The limp forms of Ginny and Hermione were lying next to him.

_Ginny's limp form?_

Why wasn't she moving? What had happened to her? Panic rose up in him like bile, his insides twisted painfully. Had he – because of their hurried departure – somehow splinched her and now she was—

_No,_ he anxiously reassured himself, examining Ginny's unmoving form. There was not a single trace of blood. She was merely unconscious, as though … stunned?

Of course! The spell Travers had sent at them must have hit her at the last moment. She was only stunned and not … dead. With trembling hands he brushed aside her red tresses that had fallen into her face. Harry was sure that he had never before felt so relieved when he caught sight of the heaving of her chest. Ginny was breathing and alive. They all were safe - at least for now.

Harry glanced around and took in his surroundings. 4 Privet Drive looked exactly like it had in late July. It was – as per normal - extremely tidy and everything was in order. However instead of being clinically clean as usual a thick layer of dusk had settled on the various pieces of furniture the Dursleys had not taken with them. Harry could vividly picture his aunt's distasteful facial expression upon encountering her house in such a state, worrying whether the neighbours had seen.

He wobbly got to his feet and glanced down at the unconscious forms of Ginny and Hermione to his feet.

He wasn't exactly angry with Hermione – she hadn't been the one who had performed magic, after all – but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance towards her. Why hadn't she just given them a chance to explain? He understood that Ron's abandonment hat hit her badly and that the appearance of the Delumintator – what had it to do with anything anyways?– had upset her, but everything would have gone over a lot easier if she would have given Ginny and him time to tell her everything. She ought to have trusted _his _judgement.

Mustering up every ounce of strength he possessed he dragged Ginny to one of the Dursleys' sofas and carefully laid her down. Once he had managed to pull the beaded bag out of her grasp and put it down on the coffee table, he did the same with Hermione.

All that was left to do now was wait for them to wake up – he couldn't very well cast a quick _Rennervate_ now – and then talk about everything.

Not knowing what else to do he wandered around the derelict house. His whole body ached, whether it was from the attack at Godric's Hollow, nearly drowning in the pool or from Apparating two people Side-Along, he did not know nor care.

He quickly became aware of the fact that the Dursleys cut off both water and electricity and that the fridge was empty – not counting a very, very mouldy wedge of cheese and a expired bottle of orange juice.

Frustrated, he slammed shut the fridge, walked back into the living room and slumped into his uncle's overly large armchair. He glanced at Ginny's unconscious form on the sofa in front of him.

Harry's chest constricted painfully as he watched her. She had been dragged into this now. There was no possible way that Travers and the other two officials had not recognized her. Her bright red hair was very distinctive and practically screamed _Weasley. _It didn't take a genius to figure out who she was and whom she was with.

The implications of the situation suddenly hit him like a bludger. Ginny was great danger and so was her entire family. It was now that he realized just how smart Hermione had been by obliviating her own parents and sending them to Australia. If - or rather when - it became news that Ginny Weasley was with Harry Potter - the _Undesirable No. 1 -_ the Weasley family was most likely going to be attacked and questioned for information.

And there was nothing he could do.


	5. Explanations And Elaborations

**Disclaimer:**

All stories in this archive are based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. Rights to these characters and their images is neither claimed nor implied. It is not endorsed by any of the aforementioned parties.

This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story!_

* * *

**Chapter 5**: Explanations and Elaborations

Ginny Weasley swore under her breath. Waking up after being Stunned never was a pleasant sensation and she had the sneaking suspicion that Side-Along Apparition while Stunned wasn't a particularly good idea either.

Everything that had transpired in the last minutes—or probably hours—caught up with her at a rapid pace. It had all happened so fast, it nearly seemed unreal: Going to Shell Cottage, finding the Deluminator, saving Harry, destroying the Horcrux, kissing Harry, encountering Hermione, performing Underage Magic, escaping just barely…

She felt as though was lying on something extremely soft and cushioned. Blinking a few times she tried to get rid of the remaining grogginess and disorientation. Where in the name of Merlin was she?

Stretching, she sat up, taking in her surroundings.

She was sitting on a rather overstuffed sofa in a sizable living room that she had never seen before. Lying on an identical sofa next to her was Hermione (who was still unconscious), while Harry was slumped into a large armchair across from her, seemingly asleep.

She looked around, trying to find a something that gave her a clue about her location. Standing on a small table in front of the wall was an odd looking object. It seemed to be a big black box with a foreside made of glass. Ginny wondered whether this could be one of those Muggle devices her Dad had told her about? A telly-vision?

Ginny realized with a jolt that this must be the house of Harry's relatives. The Dursleys were Muggles, after all. Bringing them here was probably not one of Harry's most thought-through decisions, as he probably hadn't had much time to think about where to Apparate to. But on the other hand it could be rather clever too. This house being the most obvious place for Harry to hide made it highly unlikable for him to actually come here. She doubted that the Death Eaters or Riddle would get on to it. After his departure on his birthday they had probably checked on it, noticed that it was empty and then forgot about it again. Why would he want to come back here?

A sudden movement startled Ginny out of her thoughts and brought her attention back to Hermione. She was stirring and Ginny could hear her breathe a soft sigh_. She's waking up_! Ginny's heartbeat sped up. What if she still had her down as an imposer?

Making a quick decision, she scrambled to her feet and kneeled in front of the girl.

"Hermione," she whispered.

Because of the lack of reaction from Hermione she hesitantly began shaking the girls' shoulders. Hermione's eyes fluttered open and she slowly turned her head to face her. Ginny decided that she had to exploit this moment of confusion to intervene and prevent Hermione from possibly charging at her again.

"Hermione, before you say something, please listen to me for a moment."

Hermione's eyes widened but Ginny continued undeterred, "I really am Ginny Weasley. I know it's a shock to see me, I really do, but you _have_ to believe me."

Hermione was shaking her head in disbelief and Ginny was searching her brain for something—anything—she could say to convince Hermione. Persuading Harry had been much easier.

She took a deep breath.

"I know that, in your forth year, you spend an outrageous amount of your pocket money on _Sleekeazy's Hair Potion _to impress Victor Krum and even more so my brother. I know that when Krum asked you to the Ball, you, at first, told him that you had to think about it because you were still hoping that Ron would ask you. I know that I was only able to relax around Harry on your advice to go out with other boys. I know that when Ron started dating Lavender you—"

"Stop!" Hermione exclaimed, effectively cutting off her ramblings. She sat up and Ginny flopped down beside her, relieved that Hermione did not seem hostile anymore. "I think … I believe you. Harry believes you."

Hermione was staring at her as though she had never seen her before, her lips slightly parted. Then, much to Ginny's consternation Hermione's eyes rapidly filled with tears.

"Oh my God," whispered Hermione, her voice breaking. "It really was you ... and I—I nearly attacked you. I thought you were a—a Death Eater. W—where are we? I—I'm so s—sorry!"

Ginny wasn't sure what to say so she decided on answering her question. "I think we're at Harry's relatives' house. I—er Petrified you and Harry Stunned you … so we had to get away quickly … you know, because of the Trace…"

She was sobbing now, thick tears rushing down her face. " B—but I don't understand! You have Ron's D—Deluminator … how did you find us?"

"You may well ask!"

Ginny and Hermione's heads whirled around to face Harry who had sat down next to Ginny. His face was very pale and his already messy hair was sticking up in every direction. He looked extremely worried.

"Well that's a bit of a long story," she said. "I was home from Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays and it all started this morning when I visited Bill at Shell Cottage."

"Where?" asked Harry.

Ginny opened her mouth to answer him but Hermione beat her to it.

"It's the small cottage on a cliff that Bill and Fleur chose to live in after they were married. It's located in Cornwall—Tinworth to be precise. It's also supposed to be a safehouse for the Weasleys. I assume Bill and Fleur live there now." Hermione, in her haste to divulge information as fast as possible had even forgotten to cry.

"Right," Ginny continued, amazed by Hermione's ability to make absolutely everything sound like an extract from a schoolbook. "When I got there I-purely by change-overheard that Ron was currently living there."

Upon hearing this, Hermione gave a noise that was halfway between a sniff and a snort. Harry just slumped back into the sofa, staring moodily into space, his jaw set.

"Erm—I don't mean to pry but … why isn't Ron with you? I thought—"

"Yes I thought so too!" exclaimed Hermione. She sounded bitter and she was on the verge of tears again. "We got into an argument and that—complete—_arse—_just—left!"

Ginny was fairly certain that this had been the first time that she had heard such a word escape Hermione Granger's mouth. However, Hermione was visibly unable to elaborate further because she promptly burst into tears again.

Ginny turned towards Harry, searching his eyes. After a moment he reluctantly returned her gaze.

"I suppose was around Halloween. Ron … well, he said that he and Hermione were disappointed in me and the whole thing … that they thought I knew what I was doing. So _I _said that I had told them everything I knew, but Ron apparently thought that I had some sort of 'master plan' up my sleeve. He was wearing the locket, you know. I think it affected him more than me and Hermione." Harry paused, furrowing his brow.

He sighed. "Anyway, then he implied that I didn't give a shit about you and your family…"

Ginny gasped. _How dare he!_ Her checks began to burn as anger churned her insides. The nerve of him!

"Well, then I—er told him to leave … and he did. Hermione ran after him but…"

Ginny noticed perplexed that Harry did not sound angry at all, but rather sad and resigned. _Who could blame him_, thought Ginny. Ron was Harry's first and best friend. His abandonment was bound to hit him badly.

Working hard to swallow her own anger at her brother—this was defiantly the wrong moment to curse him until her throat was sore, as much as she wanted to—she said the only thing that she thought would cut trough the tension in the air.

"He regrets it."

"How do you know that?" snapped Hermione. "He sounded pretty sincere if you ask me! I begged him_, begged_ him to stay and he _left _me!"

"It was something Bill said. I—er—got rather angry on your behalf and I think he was trying to calm me down. He said that Ron was trying to find a way back to you."

Hermione huffed and folded her arms over her chest, sniffing. Whenever—_if ever_—Ronald Weasley encountered Hermione Granger the next time, she _really_ didn't want to be in his shoes. It was the worst kept secret that Ron fancied Hermione and Hermione fancied Ron—her reaction to him and Lavender had been … less the enthusiastic, after all—but if Ron ever was going to be able to make it up to her, it had to be _very_ big gesture.

Cutting through the uncomfortable silence that hat settled upon them, Ginny quickly continued with her story. "So, like I said, I got angry at Ron. I'm not sure what I wanted to do—possibly brace him and hex him—and I stormed into the guest room. But Ron wasn't there, only his things. Poking out of his Jeans pocket was the Deluminator and …I guess I got curious, so I picked it up."

"But it's only supposed to switch off lights!" Hermione interjected, sounding frustrated. "Dumbledore himself—"

"Hermione!" said Ginny, silencing her effectively. "I know what it was supposed to do and I thought so too … at first at least." She turned to face Harry, meeting his gaze. "But then when I was sitting outside, waiting for Ron to return and press information on you out of him, I suddenly heard a voice … your voice."

"Sorry?"

"I heard your voice. At first it startled me but then I noticed that it must have come from the Deluminator," she explained.

"But that's not possible," said Hermione hotly.

Harry ignored that and looked her straight in the eye. "What did it—I say?"

"My name," she whispered.

To Ginny's surprise, Harry's cheeks flooded with colour, causing a pink tint to spread out_. He looks adorable when he's all flustered_, Ginny thought happily and her heart fluttered just a bit.

"Er—I sort of … used to watch your dot on the Marauder's Map, you know…"

He trailed off, looking extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed. Ginny's face flushed to match his.

"And then this morning I took it out too," he took a deep breath. "But then I remembered that you weren't at Hogwarts, because it was Christmas … so put it away again. I'm not sure but I think I might have … saidyourname."

He rushed the last bit, stumbling over the words, and Ginny had to concentrate to get what he was saying.

Oh. My. _Merlin_.

He had been watching her dot on the Map and said her name. _Holy Shit!_ She felt positively giddy.

He had, of course, told her that he was in love and rationally she knew that she didn't need any proof, but that didn't stop her from feeling every bit like the eleven year old love-sick girl again. Hopefully she didn't start to behave like that again too. _That_ would be bad.

She could feel his embarrassment radiating off him as he averted his gaze, looking anywhere but at her. _He probably reckons I think he's some kind of stalker!_

Ginny, unfazed by his attempts to brush over the topic, stared at him for several long moments until he finally gave in and returned her gaze. The intensity of his startling green eyes caused her heart to miss several beats. The tension in the atmosphere was crackling; the air suddenly seemed very heavy…

They were sitting as closely as possible without actually touching each other. And suddenly his head was drawing nearer—or maybe it was hers? His expression was unfocused. Ginny's eyes dropped to his lips. _I love his lips,_ was the only coherent thought her brain was able to form.

Ginny's lips parted; her eyes fluttered close…

A muffled cough shook her out of her daze, alerting her to Hermione's presence.

Harry and Ginny both jumped and Harry hastily turned away. _No!_

Waves of disappointment crashed into her. She loved Hermione, she really did, but she couldn't just have waited _one_ bloody second to reprimand them. The moment was lost and Ginny couldn't help but feel annoyed with her friend. She could have politely turned a blind eye, couldn't she have?

And Ginny really wanted to kiss Harry again. Badly. Their kiss after destroying the locket Horcrux had been spec_tac_ular, unlike anything she had felt before. The very thought of how he had touched her breasts and how she had ground her hips into his, made her blush from head to toe again. Never before had she behaved so … _wanton! _Maybe Hermione's interruption was for the better after all. _No need to disturb her friend like this!_

"Maybe we should get on with the story," Hermione suggested, breaking trough the awkward silence.

"Yes!" Ginny burst out, thankful for the diversion. "Where was I? Right, I'd heard Harry say my name and I was certain that it came out of the Deluminator… so I clicked it. And the lamps in the garden went out, but another light appeared near the shore."

She made a gesture with her hands, pointing in front of her, remembering how the ball of light had drawn her near.

"It sort of reminded me of a Portkey. You know, right before they activate, all bluish and pulsing."

"Yeah," said Harry and Hermione together, automatically.

"So I walked toward it. It was outside the wards but I didn't really care. I was … like in a trance. It was there, hovering in the air, waiting for me. And then … well in floated inside me."

"Sorry?" said Harry, as though he had not heard her correctly.

"It went inside me, right into my chest. Right here," she touched a point right above her heart, using her flat hand. "I could feel it too. It was warm, hot, but pleasant all the same."

She was staring into space, lost in her memory. After a moment she went on. "That was when I knew."

"Knew what?" asked Hermione immediately. She was obviously in full learning-mode now. Eager to soak in information and knowledge, like a human sponge.

"Knew that it would bring me to Harry—wherever he was."

"But … _how_?"

"I Disapparated," Ginny said, deadpan, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. _Ha! I bet they didn't bargain for that, _Ginny thought_,_ her lips curling into a smile. Satisfied, she enjoyed the flabbergasted looks on Harry and Hermione's faces. Hermione's eyes threatened to bulge and her expression was absolutely priceless.

"You Apparated?" Hermione shrieked, sputtering. "But that's impossible. You haven't even had Apparition class yet! They _always_ begin after the Christmas holidays."

Ginny—with great difficulty—managed to supress a grin. "True, but … it's hard to explain … but the heat of the ball of light in my chest, it, well … guided me."

"Fascinating," Hermione breathed, while Harry simply stared at her in amazement.

"The three D's of Apparition," Hermione said. "You probably fulfilled Determination and Deliberation and the Deluminator helped you with the Destination."

"Anyway," Ginny went on, having no idea what Hermione was talking about. "I came out in the middle of some kind of forest—"

"The Forest of Dean," Hermione put in.

"—and I had no idea were I was but suddenly there was a Patronus, a doe … and I followed it."

"A doe?" Hermione asked. "Did you see who cast it? Didn't you see anyone?"

It was Harry who answered her. "No, but whoever cast it wanted me to find the Sword of Gryffindor. I followed the doe too, and it led me to a frozen pool. The sword was in it, at the bottom."

"Please tell me you didn't just jump in it!" Upon seeing Harry's guilty expression, Hermione added, "Harry! That was _dangerous_! You could have frozen to death!"

"Calm down Hermione," Harry tried to reassure her. "It would have worked if that blasted locket wouldn't have tried to strangle me!"

"The Horcrux? Strangle you? Where is it? Oh, _please_ tell me you didn't lose it!"

"Quite the opposite actually," Ginny quipped.

Together, they explained what had happened. Ginny told Hermione how she had watched Harry jump into the pool and had waited for him to resurface; how she had realised that something must have happened, dived in and pulled Harry out of the pool.

Finally Harry fetched the destroyed locket from his Jeans pocket, causing Hermione's eyes to widen in disbelief and her mouth to drop open in shock.

"—and then Ginny stabbed it with the sword," Harry finished their story.

"And … it was destroyed? Just like that?" Hermione whispered.

"Well, it—it cried out," said Harry glancing at her. Ginny felt a sudden surge of thankfulness toward Harry. She wanted everything that had happened to stay between her and Harry and between them alone.

"Here," he threw the locket into Hermione's lap, who gingerly picket it up and examined its pierced glass windows.

"Wow … it's quite the story, isn't it?" Hermione remarked. "Why didn't you tell my that you'd destroyed a Horcrux straight away?"

Ginny merely raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh … right," Hermione mumbled, obviously embarrassed about what had happened. "Erm—what happened after you had to … immobilise me?"

"We tried to get away, as fast as possible," answered Harry. " But we weren't quick enough. The people from the Ministry saw us Disapparate…"

Hermione hung her head. "I'm so sorry Ginny," she breathed. "They must have recognized you."

Guilt was settling in her stomach as she thought about her family. If it wouldn't be for her, they wouldn't be in such a danger now. Naturally the Weasleys already _were_ in danger—with them being blood-traitors—but Ginny fraternizing with the Undesirable No. 1 was only going to make things much, much worse for them.

But there was no going back now; she was with Harry, where she belonged. She also knew that Harry wouldn't send her back now—which initially had been one of her fears. Not if it would put her in danger.

"I'm sorry too," Ginny said.

Harry gave her a confused look, "Ginny, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry about!" he exclaimed. "You saved me in the pool, you destroyed the locket—"

She didn't let him finish, "that's not what I meant! I'm talking about magic. I've still got the Trace on me—obviously—and you can't use magic around me. You still have to find and destroy the other Horcruxes, am I right? You'd be better off without me! You can't do anything useful around me. I'm just a burden!"

She felt horrible. She'd wanted to help Harry so badly that she hadn't thought about the consequences her actions would have.

"Ginny?"

Hermione's quite voice shook her out of her misery. She turned toward the girl and was surprised to find her deep in thought, by the looks of it. Her eyes were glazed over and she was staring into space. Had they been at Hogwarts, Ginny was certain that she would have taken off to look something up in library without uttering another word.

"I think … that there might be a way to remove the trace."

"_Really_?" The words erupted from her louder than she had intended. Her mouth dropped open as she turned to face Harry who equally looked surprised—his green eyes wide—but hopeful.

"Positive. I reckon I must have skimmed over something on this topic, while looking for information on Horcruxes…"

She trailed off, nodding her head absentmindedly. "I need to look something up. Where is my—? _Oh." _

Faster than Ginny's eyes could process, Hermione snatched the small beaded bag from the coffee table. _Of course_, she thought amused as Hermione promptly began to rummage around in the depths of the bag, _no library to run off to but probably a pile of books either way._

"Bloody Hell! Did you _shrink _the tent?"

* * *

_A/N: About the fight and Ron's departure being on Halloween: well I made that up—I don't think the date is actually mentioned in the books—but I thought it was plausible since bad things always tend to happen at Halloween. I just noticed that recently. Voldemort's birthday was on Halloween, Harry's parents were murdered on Halloween, the troll incident was on Halloween, Mrs Norris was petrified on Halloween, Sirius Black broke into the dormitory on Halloween, Harry's name came out of the Goblet on Halloween…_

_Leave a review if you want to. I love reading them!_


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